According to THR, Paramount is currently sitting on three separate Star Trek projects. These include a story created by Legion showrunner Noah Hawley, a prospective Kelvin timeline film and a pitch from The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith with Quentin Tarantino tied to (hopefully) direct the finished script.
For reasons that should be obvious to any film buff, Star Trek fans have gotten most excited about the last of these three projects. Although little is yet known about the script which Tarantino – in the best of all possible worlds – will go on to direct, the industry isn’t completely in the dark about its contents.
According to Deadline, for instance, the project is “based on an episode of the classic Star Trek series that takes place largely earthbound in a 30s gangster setting.” While Tarantino has set his films in any location from the Wild West to the pre-Civil War era American South and retro Japan, he’s yet to tackle science fiction. This funky twist on the formula, however, should be right up his alley.
Although Deadline’s report does not mention an exact episode, Collider thinks they’re talking about “A Piece of the Action.” Directed by James Komack and written by David Harmon and Gene Coon for the series’ second season, it sees Kirk, Spock and McCoy searching for a long-lost ship only to find themselves in the middle of a gangster-esque scuffle.
Even if the project ultimately makes it out of development hell alive, it remains to be seen whether Tarantino would actually direct it. Although the filmmaker has both written and helmed his most iconic projects, he does occasionally agree to direct a movie he hasn’t written. And given the name and fame associated with a property like Star Trek, this opportunity may just be too good to pass up.